WEBVTT STEWART: MOST OF US DOEVERYTHING ONLINE.AND NOW, WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY, ITINCLUDES YOUR BABY'S MONITOR,YOUR ALARM SYSTEM, EVEN SECURITYCAMERAS.ANGELA: BUT ALL THAT PROTECTIONMAY NOT BE ENOUGH TO KEEP YOUFROM FALLING VICTIM TO A HACKEJUSTIN FARMER IS A CYBERSECURITY EXPERT, BETTER KNOWN ASAN ETHICAL HACKER.THEY ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR WAYSTO SAVE TIME LIKE PAYING BILLSONLINE.>> I PAY EVERY BILL ONLINE.ALL OF MY CREDIT CARD BILLS.IT'S ONLY SECURED BY A ROUTERWITH A PASSWORD-PROTECTED WI-FI.>> HE ALSO HAPPENS TO BE MY>> WE FOUND DOZENS OF HOMESWITHOUT A SECURE WI-FI.JUSTIN COULD'VE EXPOSE THEIRPRIVATE INFORMATION IN A MATTEROF MINUTES.>> WE HAVE ACCESS TO EVERYTHINGTHEY DO.COMPUTERS, IPHONES.>> WITH PERMISSION WE WANTED TOSEE IF HE COULD HACK INTO THEIRWI-FI WHICH ISPASSWORD-PROTECTED.>> I SEE THAT I'M ABLE TO LOGINWITHOUT ANY USER CREDENTIALSWHATSOEVER.>> IN LESS THAN AN HOUR, HE WASABLE TO GET INSIDE THEIR PRIVATELIVES FROM OUTSIDE THEIR HOME.>> I EFFECTIVELY CONTROL THEIRCOMPLETE SYSTEM AT THIS POINT.AT THIS POINT I'M A USER ONTHEIR NETWORK AND THEY DON'TEVEN KNOW I'M ON THEIR NETWORK.>> JUSTIN ACCESSED THEIR LOGINSFOR BANKING AND SOCIAL MEDIAACCOUNTS>> I SAW WHAT YOU SEARCHED FOR.I MIGHT HAVE SEEN YOUR EMAILADDRESS YOU PUT IN, POTENTIALLYA PASSWORD.IT SEEMS SIMPLE AND TO A HACKER,IT IS.>> A LOT OF TIMES THEY HAVE AWEB INTERFACE AS WELL SO YOU CANCONTROL WHAT THE BABY MONITORDOES.IF IT'S A PAN TILT ZOOM CAMERAYOU CAN MAKE IT MOVE, YOU CANSET OFF AN ALARM, YOU CAN DO ALLSORTS OF THINGS.REPORTER: WITH A LITTLE MORETIME, JUSTIN WAS ABLE TOEVENTUALLY ACCESS EVERYTHING ONTHEIR HOME COMPUTER WHICH HADFAMILY PHOTOS AND TAX DOCUMENTS.>> THAT'S SHOCKING.YOU KNOW TO BE SO VULNERABLE ANDNOT EVEN KNOW IT OR REALIZE IT.REPORTER: AMBER THOUGHT HERFAMILY WAS SECURE BY USING ASIMPLE PASSWORD.TURNS OUT, IT TAKES MUCH MORETHAN THAT TO KEEP YOUR PRIVATEINFORMATION PRIVATE.ANGELA: OK, SO WHAT CAN YOU DORIGHT NOW TO SECURE YOURPERSONAL INFORMATION?FIRST, CHECK YOUR WIFI'SSECURITY.IF IT'S A WEP, GET RID OF ITNOW.IT'S THE EASIEST TO HACK.JUSTIN SUGGESTS USING A WPA ORWPA 2, BETTER KNOWN AS WI-FIPROTECTED ACCESS.ALSO, CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD RIGHTNOW.USE NUMBERS, SPECIAL CHARACTERS

Protect your personal information: Tips from an ethical hacker

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Updated: 11:46 PM CST Feb 9, 2017

LONGWOOD, Fla. —

Many people do most everything online -- whether you're using your baby's monitor, your alarm system or even security cameras. But all that protection may not be enough to keep you from falling victim to a hacker.

Justin Farmer is a cyber security expert, better known as an ethical hacker. He also happens to be WESH 2's Angela Taylor's husband.

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WESH 2 News wants to show you just how easy it is to take control of your Wi-Fi without you even knowing it.

The Arnolds of Longwood are like most families: busy. They have two children and two full-time jobs, and are always looking for ways to save time. For example, they like to pay their bills online.

Farmer is a cyber security expert, also known as an ethical hacker. He took WESH 2 News on a drive through the Arnolds' Longwood neighborhood.

"There's a few open ones on here," Farmer said.

Without even leaving the car, Farmer found dozens of homes without a secured Wi-Fi, meaning he could have exposed all of their private information in a matter of minutes.

"Once we're on the Wi-Fi, we pretty much have access to everything they do. Computers, the iPhones, the TVs," Farmer said.

With permission from the Arnold family, WESH 2 News wanted to see if Farmer could hack into their Wi-Fi, which is password protected.

"I type in their IP address and I see that I'm able to log in without any user credentials, whatsoever," Farmer said.

In less than an hour, he was able to get inside their private lives from outside their home.

"I effectively control their complete system at this point. At this point, I'm a user on their network and they don't even know I'm on their network," Farmer said.

He accessed their log-ins for banking and social media accounts.

"I saw what you searched for. I might have seen your email address you put in, potentially a password," he said.

It seems simple -- and to a hacker, it is.

"A lot of times they have a web interface as well, so you can control what the baby monitor does. If it's a pan-tilt-zoom camera, you can make it move. You can set off an alarm, you can do all sorts of things," he said.

With a little more time, Farmer was able to access everything on their home computer, which had family photos and tax documents.

"That's shocking. You know, to be so vulnerable and not even know it or realize it," Amber Arnold said.

She thought her family was secure by using a simple password. It turns out, it takes much more than that to keep information private.

So, what can you do right now to secure your personal information?

First, check your Wi-Fi's security. If it's a WEP, get rid of it now. It's the easiest to hack.

Farmer suggests using a WPA or WPA2, better known as Wi-Fi protected access.

Also, change your password right now. Use numbers, special characters and make it long.